Single-segment proper 70-star speed run of Super Mario 64, done on June 24 2004.

Author's comments:
This is a traditional speed run of Super Mario 64. I collected the bare minimum of stars required to beat the game - 70 - WITHOUT ridiculous glitches that involve warping through doors. I use a variety of tricks and routes not used or known by the casual player to earn the world record.

I would like to thank my best friend and partner in crime Cyberwrath (Brad Cutler) because without him I would never have gained interest in a SM64 run. Brad, along with Alex Penev (a very good player from Australia; we'll forgive him for being PAL) aided me greatly in the finding of tricks and time savers. I owe about half of the "oooh" moments in this run to them.

I'll answer some questions that will probably come to an astute observer's mind.

Q: What's up with the King Bob-Omb strat?
A: After the first throw you can't simply run around to his backside, he'll turn around as fast as you can run. If you stay still for a moment and let him start moving then you can run around (or, in my case, leap).

Q: How do you spin so quickly before collecting the "Wall Kicks Will Work" star in Cool, Cool Mountain?
A: Press A! I didn't even know about this either until Cyber told me it...and he only knew because he attempted the no caps/cannons challenge. It makes getting to the platform much easier because you stay aloft longer and move horizontally faster!

Q: Why not do the snowman body star?
A: I would have loved to because it's easy and fast. Unfortunately, his body does not appear at the top unless you do the star before it: 8 red coins. That star is simply way too slow to even consider.

Q: In the Dark World you can go up the green slope before the ferris wheel, y'know...
A: Yes, I know. It's an evil slope, however.

Q: I think you should have done star _______...
A: That's fine, but I spent quite a lot of time crunching numbers and comparing stars to each other and I believe, with the strategies I have at this moment in time, that these are the best 70 stars.

At the end of the run I basically needed two stars and had four to choose - Jolly Roger Cave + Aquarium vs. Tick Tock's Pendulum + Timed Jumps, Moving Bars. I timed them all pretty brutally and on perfect runs both sets are roughly the same time if you include overworld time (around two minutes). However, as should be obvious, Jolly Roger is a LOT easier to do perfectly compared to the dreaded Tick Tock.

Q: Did you know about the Princess Secret Slide shortcut?
A: Yes, of course. I bet I know a shortcut that you don't, though! It involves bouncing off the right-hand side of where you usually do the "normal" shortcut and bending in the air and falling a long ways, eventually landing directly in front of the exit. It's extremely hard but makes a final time of 12 seconds possible. I didn't do either for one reason - risk. The risk compared to the time saved just isn't worth it, particularly the "normal" shortcut which barely cuts four if you do it perfectly.

Now, for serious mistakes. Feel free to laugh.

1. I mess up on the very first trick of the game: tripling up the white slope. It's fairly hard to get up without bouncing your head, although possible.
2. Princess Slide take two: I should have slowed down so the star wouldn't appear. Lost: however long the animation goes.
3. Bowser in the Dark World: I get cold feet at the red coin on the circling, square platforms. It's a scary coin, especially since I died here one time (the good old "stutter" effect on the edge of a platform).
4. Castle: On the way to the basement I somehow keep grabbing the edge of the staircase. I also get burned, literally.
5. Lethal Lava Land: Two small things. First off, one of the li'l bullies was afraid of me and wouldn't attack! Some bully. I also missed skipping the "lego masher" inside the volcano. I needed to be out more towards the edge to pull off the required triple.
6. Shifting Sand Land: After I take out Klepto I fell on the wrong side, whoops.
7. Hazy Maze: I miss my first walljump to the red wire above. I don't even hit the wall, I just sort of slide along its surface. Weird.
8. WetDry: I had fun with the triple jump to the slope. BIG time saver, so even missing three times would be OK. I only missed once, though.
9. Tall Tall Mountain: I kept bumping into the wall when going back into the painting...wow.
10. Rainbow Ride: For "Swinging in the Breeze" I slid on a small hill. Barely a mistake, but it caused me to wait for the stupid platform that swings in the breeze. ROAR!
11. Tick Tock: Fell down from the red coin platforms. OI! This level is infamous for falling mistakes.
12. Bowser in the Sky: Of course, all strategies involve missing a couple times on the final Bowser because by this point in the game you're sweating bullets. My second miss wasn't cool because I aimed perfectly, it just didn't have enough distance.


This movie is part of the collection: Speed Runs

Producer: David 'marshmallow' Gibbons
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Mario; Single-segment; Nintendo 64

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Reviewer: mcineri - - December 5, 2011
Subject: great job, but ive got new for you
hey man, i dont know if you still check this site. have a lot of respect of course, but i think ive beaten this time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&src_vid=rCx5D6Ev4-U&annotation_id=annotation_608094&v=oXhr43m3AU4

same category of no glitches or tas. have you heard of any faster times? id love to see another video

Reviewer: pokemon addict - - May 16, 2008
Subject: lkluawe
addict